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we desperately need our public institutions to be commons: to be those places where we come together to (learn to) cooperate in the stewardship of our mutual resources. If our public institutions are not operating as commons, than they are also no longer effectively bringing us together as citizens

This is such an important relationship. I don't think it applies only to ideas and written resources, but to preservation of our environment, to energy use and to social welfare as well.

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Been thinking about this from the infolit angle for a few years. Info is easy to find and access, and a little less easy to filter and evaluate. What matters more is creativity - what we can do with info, how we can connect it, what we can make out of it - all of which is impeded by copyright and enabled by openness.

And so, that part I think was the second marking point for me was this idea of connectedness, and that by being connected-- being transparent and connected-- you produced this huge array of potential knowledge futures in these areas.

Transparency is an important part of openness that I don't see discussed much in the OER community these days. If we replace an expensive text with free OER there is a great financial benefit for students, but the process of developing and selecting the OER remains something of a black box to the students. But if the students are involved in that development and selection, that process becomes transparent. Students can learn the process as well as the content, and build powerful learning skills, and an increased level of educational independence.